Burner for incandescent light



Oct. 18, 1938. H. LAHDE BURNER FOR INCANDESGENT LIGHT Filed March 6,1936 Patented Oct. 18, 1938 UNITED STATES BURNER FOR INCANDESCENT LIGHTHermann Lahde, Berlin, Germany, assignor to Ehrich & Graetz,Aktiengesellschaft, Berlin, Germany, a corporation cf GermanyApplication March 6,

4 Claims.

The present invention relates to burners for incandescent light and hasparticular reference to kerosene round wick blue ilame burners forheating .mantles to incandescence.

In a blue flame burner used for incandescent light purposes, it isnecessary to 'increase the velocityoi the air `flowing through theburner so that it may penetrate the ordinary yellow flame burning on topof Athe wick and change it into a blue flame. When this has been done, asmall blue flame will burn directly on 'top of the wick. In order toincrease the size of this blue flame and thereby increase the amount ofheat given off, it has Vbeen customary in the past to provide a llameilange of some kind below the top of the wick and usually placed uponthe outer wick tube so that the air rising through the burner will bedeflected outwardly away from the outer surface of the wick extendingabove the wick tubes. Without some such flange, all ame on the side ofthe wick will be blown out-` With the use of such a ilange the flame maycreep down the outside surface of the wick, increasing the size of theblue flame and aiding in the production of vapors from the wick.

As this horizontal ilange has heretofore been in contact with the wickabove the wick tube, it receives -the heat from the flame and theincandescent mantle above and passes it on to the wick, causingincreased vaporization of the kerosene and creating an unstablecondition in the burner This increased vaporization will increase theflame over and above its operating height causing the burner to smokeand sooting up the mantle where yellow tips of the blue ame may touchthe same. This ange also receives gummy and tar-like deposits from thisvapor.

It is, therefore, necessary to cool the burner parts adjacent the wickand this has been done in the past by attempting to cool the horizontalflame ilange by taking the flame flange away from the outer wick tubeand placing it in close contact with the wick above the wick tube.Others have suggested perforating the ilange with a series of holes,attempting to cool the flange by passing air upwardly therethrough. Evenif an ordinary ilange is sufliciently cooled, hot vapors touching itwill condense making a wet and messy burner. None of these types ofburners has been wholly successful.

The principal object of my invention is to provide a blue flame burnerthat is inexpensive and simple to manufacture.

Another object of my invention is to provide a blue flame burner that isstable throughout a long period of operation.

A further object of my invention is to provide a burner, the outer wicktube of which is relatively cool compared to the Vaporzation point ofkero sene.

1936, Serial No. 67,469

A still vfurther object of my invention is to provide a burner whosemetal parts touching the wick are relatively cool so -that there will beno added vaporization caused by that contact.

Another object of my invention is to maintain the outer 'wick tube in acool and dry state.

Still other and further objects ci my invention will be pointed out orindicated hereinafter or will be apparent to one skilled in the art uponunderstanding of the invention or Iits employment in practice.

For aiding in the disclosure of the invention, I show 'in the`accompanying drawing, forming a part of Ithis specication, certainarrangements of parts by reference to which the improved burner isdescribed. This description and drawing are presented for purposes ofillustration onlyand are not 'to be construed so as 'to limit the scopeof the appended claims unnecessarily.

In the drawing:

The ligure is a view through the burner structure partly in section,omitting the chimney and mantle, which may be of 'the usual type, andshowing 1a small portion of the usual supporting kerosene front.

In a preferred embodiment of my invention I use the customary inner andouter wick tubes I6 and I I, respectively, which support and guide around wick I2 between them. The inner wick tube I'Il is supported fromthe base of the lamp. The outer wick tube II is mounted upon the burner'assembly which includes the usual burner basket I3, the gallery I 4with its chimney-supporting fingers I5, and the burner cone It which isbent inwardly at its top to direct the upwardly flowing air into theflame.

As previously mentioned, without some intervening structure to divertthe air away from the outer surface of the wick only a small blue flamewill burn on top of the wick. Instead of using the customary flameflange upon the cuter wick tube I prefer 'to support my air-divertingflange free from both the wick tube and the wick so that it may have nometal contact between any portion of either of these two members. At thesame time, the inner portion of this air diverter must be suiflcientlyclose to the wick that the air flowing upwardly between the diverter andthe Wick will not be sullicient to disturb the ame burning upon theouter surface oi the wick. For this purpose I have found that ahorizontal space of about .035 of an inch or less will give satisfactoryresults. The space should be 'suiciently large, however, to permit asmall quantity of air to exist between the air-diverting flange and thewick or wick tube for insulating purposes.

To accomplish this result I prefer to support the air-diverting ange I8by means of spaced legs 2li mounted upon the burner basket or otherparts of the burner structure other than the outer wick tube. Thesesupporting legs 20 are preferably bent upwardly and inwardly convergingslightly as they approach a height slightly above the upper end of theouter wick tube where the inwardly turned flange I8 is formed. For themost efficient operation of this burner the inner end of the airdiverter I8 should be spaced slightly above the upper end of the outerwick tube II'.'

This diverter member may be imperforate as heat given to it is notconducted to the Wick tubes or wick, but is carried away to other partsof the burner or by the cool air rising through the legs ZIJ.

By forming the air diverter in this way it may be made very simple andinexpensively by stamping a metal sheet into the desired form, providinga one-piece diverter and requiring no excess material or complicatedmachining operations.

As tests have shown, the effect of this simple air diverter, positionedas described and shown, is equal to or better than those of thepreviously known llame flanges in so far as the prevention ofover-evaporation is' concerned. Altogether, it is more simply designedand easier to manufacture than any of these.

At the upper end of the inner wick tube an improved type of flamespreader is shown. This llame spreader 2| consists of a one-piecesubstantially cylindrical structure closed and imperforate at its upperend. The lower portion of the flame spreader is likewise imperforate andfits within the inner wick tube where it is supported by a bead 22 uponthe wall of the inner wick tube I0. That portion of the flame spreaderextending above the inner wick tube is perforated with a plurality ofsmall openings 25 so that air flowing upwardly within the inner wicktube may be distributed evenly from the flame spreader through theseholes to the flame. That portion of the flame spreader immediatelyadjacent the upper end of the inner wick tube I0 is bent inwardly toform a perforated bead 23 preventing any possible contact between theame spreader and the vapors leaving the inner exposed surface of thewick I2 above the inner wick tube I0. The many perforations through thisflame spreader keep it comparatively cool even though it is adjacent theflame burning on the wick.

These perforations also help to break up the pathV of heat conductivitythrough the flame spreader to the inner wick tube. Consequently, vaporsgiven off upon the inside surface of the wick I2 might condense upon thellame spreader causing a wet condition unless this beaded portion 23were formed so that the air rising through the inner wick tube I0 mayprevent contact between these vapors and the flame spreader.

In earlier types of burners where attempts have been made to use theordinary flame flange and to cool the same, these flame flanges, ifcooled suili-' ciently, likewise condense kerosene vapors that come incontact with them, forming a wet and messy burner. In the presentstructure the air diverter I8 is always of a sufficient heat duringoperation to prevent condensation of vapors upon it, and the small airgap between the air diverter IB and the outer wick tube prevents vaporsfrom coming into contact with the outer wick tube I I. As a result ofthis formation the inner and outer wick tubes of this burner are notonly cool but entirely dry during the operation of the burner.

By means of this simple structure there are only two air currentsflowing between the burner cone and the outer wick tube. The major aircurrent flows into the burner through the perforations 24 in the basketI3 and then flows upwardly between the spaced supporting legs 20 andaround the air diverter I8 and between it and the burner cone I6 to theflame. A very small quantity of air flows inside the diverter I8 andbetween it, the outer wick tube II and the outer surface of the wick I2above the wick tube. It has been found that with the use of only thesetwo air currents the burner gives satisfactory operation and a completecool and dry condition is effected.

Various modifications of the embodiment of my invention, as describedherein, are possible without departing from the scope of the invention;for instance, the air diverter may be supported or suspended from theburner cone or other parts of the burner and formed in various ways. Allsuch changes and modifications are intended to be included in theappended claims.

I claim:

l. In a burner of the type described, having a wick, inner and outerwick tubes for guiding said wick, and a burner cone, means formaintaining said outer wick tube in a cool and dry state, including asubstantially horizontal, imperforate flame flange member supportedabove and free from contact with said outer wick tube, said member beingspaced slightly from the outer surface of said wick.

2. In a burner of the type described, having a wick, inner and outerwick tubes for guiding said wick, and a burner cone, means formaintaining said outer wick tube in a cool and dry condition, includinga substantially horizontal, imperforate flame ilange member supportedabove said outer Wick tube and between it and said burner cone, saidmember being substantially spaced from said burner cone and slightlyspaced from said wick above said wick tube.

3. In a burner of the type described, having a wick, inner and outerwick tubes for guiding said wick, and a burner cone, means formaintaining said outer wick tube in a cool and dry condition, includinga burner basket, supporting means mounted on said basket and extendingupwardly to aheight proximate the upper end of said outer wick tube, animperforate inwardly bent flame flange member formed integrally withsaid means at their upper end, said member terminating adjacent butspaced from said wick and above said outer wick tube.

4. In a burner of the type described, having a wick, inner and outerwick tubes for guiding said wick, a burner cone and a flame flange forpreventing a flame on the outer side of said wick from being blown ofi,means for maintaining the outer wick tube in a cool and dry conditionincluding said flame flange being formed into an imperforate annularhorizontal flange, the inner edge of said flange being positioned abovesaid wick tube and spaced slightly away from said wick to receive heatfrom a flame burning on said wick, and supporting means extending fromthe outer edge of said flange to a part of the burner other than saidwick tubes for transporting heat received by said ange directly awayfrom said wick tubes.

HERMANN LAHDE.

